Cooperative way is the Solution

- By Bahram Maskanian

Definition of Cooperation And Cooperative: Is to work, or take action together toward achieving a common purpose, through an association and cooperation of persons, and or organizations for achieving a political, social, or economic, goals, benefiting a common good, cause, or purpose.

A Cooperative, or Co-Op effort is the work done through cooperation with others, relating to, or formed as cooperatives enterprises, or organizations, which will be jointly owned and managed by the employees and local population, such as but not limited to; cooperative radio and news groups, cooperative organic farms, cooperative stores, cooperative apartment buildings, cooperative preventive healthcare clinics, cooperative factories, cooperative restaurants, cooperative record label, cooperative music and film production, etc.

Co-Op Marketing: Cooperative (Co-Op) marketing philosophy is based on the 4 pillars of common sense principles, ethical standards, loyalty and mutual respect. One could become a trendsetter and treat one's customers in a straightforward fashion, with respect and honesty. And not use the many common practices of deception, to push for over consumption. One example would be pricing one's products and services in a none deceptive and honest manners of $1, instead of $0.99.

Co-Op Time Bank: Cooperative Time Bank must be instituted among cooperative organizations and or bartering community members to keep records of time investments in the bartering community. The bartering members can at anytime recoup any and all time she / he has invested in the community, recorded by the Time Bank. Time invested in cooperative organizations by a carpenter, or truck driver shall be valued as equal to time invested by a lawyer, or a doctor, or the bank's accountant / timekeeper. All invested times of all different skills and professions must be counted as equal in value, meaning one hour equals one hour.

Cooperative Management: I am an unyielding believer of a management philosophy based on mutual respect, kindness, loyalty, support, encouragement and reward, equal respect and equal benefits for all cooperative employees. No use of fear, intimidation, insults or pressure to lower employee’s wages. Instead, one must constantly encourage the spirit of teamwork and cooperation. All major decisions must be made with the consent of the majority of the employees. There should be 65% majority vote necessary for any major decision to pass and become organization’s policy.

All employees must participate, learn and become fully aware of all aspects of different department’s obligations and involvements in the organization’s day-to-day operation. Employees should learn about each other's work and responsibilities through temporary job rotation done every few months, until such time that they all know how to support and help each other seamlessly. All employees should realize that cooperation brings out the best in all of us, but competition brings out the worse, therefore the cooperative’s team motto should be, “one for all, and all for one”.

Definition of Greed: Greed is idiotically short sighted, greed is unreliable, greed is highly selfish, greed is blind, greed is destructive, greed is criminal, greed knows no limit, greed is endless and highly unethical. Greed's endless criminal selfishness and predatory practices have already given us many wars, Global Warring and Global Warming, which have brought humankind to the brink of self-annihilation. - Greed could be best describe as one's narcissistic excessive desire to acquire, or possess far more than what one needs and deserves, especially with respect to material wealth and worldly possessions. - Greed grows in the absence of ethical standards, common sense, compassion and morality, which leads to suppressing the urge in one's conscience to prefer doing right, over wrong. - Many believe, as I do, and attach to competition, the stigma of selfish greed. - Humanity must choose Cooperation for survival instead of Competition, in order to stop greed in its tracks and bring humanity closer together out of the danger zone of the war of self-annihilation.

Things that will destroy humanity are: Politics without principle; Pleasure without conscience; Wealth without work; Knowledge without character; Business without morality; Science without humanity; And worship without sacrifice. - - Mahatma Gandhi - (1869-1948)

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